Residents of Tema call on ECG to rectify Prepaid Metres
Audrey Micah, Ghanadot

Accra, Feb 9, Ghanadot - Residents of Sakumono in Tema, a suburb of Accra have expressed discomfort over the prepaid metering system given to them by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

According to them, the machines are calibrated in such a way that they tend to draw more, thereby compelling the consumer to spend more.

To them this development is disquieting. And that the current economic situation of the country does not help either.  They are, as a result economically handicapped and may not be able to continue with the service as structured currently.

The residents, therefore, have called on the ECG to make their machine more honest in calibration of units spent. Or, the company might have itself to blame should customers become dishonest in response.

Speaking to Ghanadot, residents disclosed that the metering machines are regulated in such a way that when you buy GH¢10 worth of credit, you will have to wait for the GH¢10 that you bought to run out before you can reload, because if you did not finish using the one you bought before topping up, your previous credit was automatically deleted. This they claim was not fairr and asked the ECG to do something about it.

The residents wanted the ECG to come out with a thoroughly researched educational programme, to be shown on both the electronic and the print media, to educate consumers about how their hard earned money was spent by the ECG, in addition to strengthening their customer service base to handle customer complaints such as this one.

The Director, Customer Service of ECG, Dr. Smart Yeboah, on his reaction to the sentiment of the public stated that the problem had to do with the fact that customers who previously consumed on credit were now faced with the reality of a cash and carry situation where the service was bought and paid for before usage.

He said customers were now conscious of how much power they used and were more educated on the metering system.  Wth the credit system, customers decided when to pay or whether to pay at all.  ther to pay or not and believes that is the reason why customers are too conscious of what is happening.

Dr. Yeboah revealed that the reason why people sometimes found it difficult to understand the meters was that the machines were calibrated in such a way that when you buy a specific amount of units on your meter, you made sure it ran out before you top up.

He said if all the units are not consumed before one loads another unit, the machine will sense automatically that it has given you the right equivalent.

Dr. Smart Yeboah assures customers that the ECG is doing everything possible to rectify the situation.

Ghanadot